332 THE VOYAGE OF THE ' DISCOVERY » [Sept. 



This bag was always kept in the sleeping-bag, and was used 

 by the owner as a pillow as well as a receptacle for diaries and 

 the few oddments that constitute private property on such an 

 occasion. 



The heavy labour of marching made it possible to under- 

 take it in comparatively light clothing ; but on coming to camp 

 it was generally necessary to put on something extra. In this 

 garment also we slept, wherefore it figures as the sleeping- 

 jacket. It was usually made from a woollen pyjama jacket, 

 and lined with some extra woollen material. Of course all 

 personal property was strictly limited by a given weight, and if 

 a man chose to forego a pair of socks and take out the weight 

 in tobacco, he was at liberty to do so. I remember gazing at 

 my spare mits and wishing to heaven I'd brought tobacco 

 instead. 



The crampons were a necessity for travelling over smooth 

 ice or very hard wind-blown snow. For the second year we 

 invented and made a particular pattern of our own, which 

 suited us admirably, and which I shall describe in due course. 



Our medical bag contained bandages, sticking-plaster, an 

 emulsion for sprains, a few phials containing medicines in the 

 tabloid form, and a tube of hazeline cream. The general 

 health of our sledge-travellers was so good that I believe, with 

 the exception of two, the medicine phials were never required ; 

 the two exceptions contained zinc sulphate and cocaine, the 

 first to cure and the second to deaden the pain of snow- 

 blindness. As this disease was a constant companion, these 

 tabloids were very frequently needed. 



The ice-axes mentioned above were of the ordinary Alpine 

 type; they came in very handy for various work on the 

 glaciers, but they were seldom absolutely necessary. 



The title ' bamboos and marks ' includes sticks and flags 

 taken to measure the movement of the ice of the glaciers and 

 to mark the positions at which we left our depots of provisions. 



The contents of our instrument-box were an extraordinarily 

 heavy item, and yet there was nothing which we could have 

 spared. They consisted of a small three-inch theodolite in its 



